The Waiting Game
by epsilonAbsol
Summary: Elysium is supposedly the ideal place to go after you died, but there are circumstances where one cannot fully enjoy everything that the afterlife has to offer.
1. Castor

As the author, I'd like to warn any and all viewers of the use of swears scattered through here, I know that some people might not want to see those, so it's just a bit of warning in advance. Also, I'm aware that Pollux did not in fact die yet, this is just what I feel like would have happened if Pollux did die in the fight against Gaea and the Giants. Hope you enjoy!

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><p>Shockingly, death was a lot easier than most people would think. Though, Castor had to admit that he was actually pretty lucky with his own. There were worse ways to go than being killed while protecting your home, and it only really hurt for a second before he was gone. One sharp blow to the head and that was it, all of his exhaustion and pain was gone.<p>

For a while, nothing felt completely real, almost like he was only half existing, but then he was on the wrong shore of an unfriendly looking black river. Castor had a feeling that had to be the Styx, so the man on a nearby boat had to be Charon. The ferryman was watching him, and when he was apparently taking too long for his liking, he snapped, "Well, do you have your fare or not? This is your only way across the river, so get on or get moving, I've got other souls to pick up."

Castor took half a step back at that, suddenly wishing that he wasn't alone here, wishing that his brother could be next to him. He was never great at talking to people, and he was never inclined to. Imagine that, a son of Dionysus, the god of parties, not liking to socialize. But this wasn't exactly a time where he could ask somebody else to do the talking for him, all he had to do was walk up and pay the fare to get across.

Wait, did he even have that? He didn't remember having anything in his pockets when he'd gone out to fight, though he wasn't still wearing all of his gear. Maybe that was because of Pollux. Maybe he knew that it'd be a pain to walk around in all that, even in the afterlife. Hopefully he'd have left a coin in his pocket to get across too.

Sure enough, Castor found just enough to pay Charon to take him across. It wasn't the fastest ride ever, but at least the ferryman didn't feel like making conversation. That would have been more awkward than the first week after he and Pollux had been claimed. Dionysus apparently wasn't the most well-liked by the campers, not that they'd actually say that. But if he had to choose between stares from literally all of Camp Half-Blood and making small talk with the ferryman of the underworld, he'd choose those stares any day.

When he finally got to the other side, he had a choice. He could either go to judgment or he could just stand in a field for the rest of eternity. He'd heard stories about the Fields of Asphodel, and he was mostly sure that he didn't want to go there if he had a chance of something better than that. He'd died in the fight to protect camp, that counted as heroic, didn't it? He never had many chances to do anything heroic before that, unless keeping Chiron's replacement activities director out of the strawberry fields that one year counted. It probably didn't, but Castor was half convinced that the guy was going to murder him if he didn't move. Heroic or not, that had been hazardous to his health, and he really hoped that he hadn't done anything bad enough to warrant the Fields of Punishment. He really didn't want to see Tantalus again.

The line for judgment was a lot shorter than the one for going straight into the Fields of Asphodel, but it still took a long time. When it was finally his turn, he figured out why it took so long really quickly. The judges went over every part of his life, debating where he should go. They brought up events that Castor had completely forgotten about, and those could be enough to keep him from going to Elysium. The more they debated, the more petrified he was that they'd send him to either of the fields.

It felt like the weight of the world was lifted when they told him that he was going to Elysium. He almost turned around to tell Pollux, but he was quickly reminded that he wasn't there. Pollux was still alive, and hopefully he'd stay that way for a long time. But that didn't mean that Castor wouldn't miss him, and he was positive that Pollux was probably missing him too. Elysium might be the perfect place to spend your afterlife, but Castor really wasn't sure how much he could enjoy it without his brother.

A short time after he got there - he wasn't really sure how long it had really been - Castor began seeing and recognizing faces. There were some other kids from Camp Half-Blood, Charles Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and a lot of others. They told him that Pollux was still alive, and eventually someone brought news that the war against the Titans was over. And really, that was great! Castor just really missed his brother, and the war being over almost felt like it was taking the chance to see him again away. It was terrible for him to think, but he couldn't help it. He knew that his brother could be a hero, he just didn't know how many chances he'd get if he was stuck at camp growing strawberries.

Once, Castor saw two adults walking and talking together through the streets. Castor was pretty sure he could safely assume that they were twins, given the fact that they looked really alike. He would have easily gone back to being bitter about his lack of contact with his own twin, but he was positive that he heard his name when they walked past him. He glanced up, confused as to what two adults would want from him, but they weren't even looking at him. They were still talking to each other.

It hit him like a sack of bricks when he realized that he was probably looking at the original heroes named Castor and Pollux, the sons of Zeus. He immediately wanted to escape, feeling like he had a rock in his stomach. If he remembered right, Castor - the original one - had died, and Pollux Senior had made a deal with Zeus that would let him and his brother be together forever. They'd spend one day in the Underworld, and one day on Olympus. Castor's brother would never have gotten that chance, Dionysus didn't have the same powers that Zeus did. Those two didn't have to spend very long apart, but it felt like forever since Castor had seen Pollux. At least Castor wouldn't get kicked out of Elysium for feeling jealous.

It felt like an eternity and a half had gone by, and Castor had resorted to avoiding any and all people. Everyone else seemed to have someone to talk to, and the only one that Castor felt like he could talk to was still alive. It wasn't Pollux's fault, but Castor wasn't going to stick around where people would watch him and maybe even pity him. He didn't need that. He just needed his brother.

There was a short time when Castor heard rumors about souls escaping back up to the world of the living. He wouldn't lie, he was tempted to do just that, but he didn't. He'd probably get thrown into the Fields of Punishment if he did, and he was positive that Pollux wouldn't go there. Then he'd _really_ never see him again. He had to be patient, it only felt like forever.

The rumors ended shortly after that, and eventually more people began coming into Elysium. Some people claimed to be Roman, and they were talking about a war with the Greeks. Some talked about a war with Giants. Just hearing that made him feel conflicted. On one hand, he didn't want Pollux getting hurt, and on the other hand, he did want to see him. He had to be the worst brother on the planet for wanting his brother to die just because he missed him. Seriously, that had to be the most fucked up thing that anyone could possibly hope for, and here he was. Definitely the most disgusting brother ever.

He was sitting near the entrance of Elysium, which had become almost routine since he was hoping to find Pollux the second he got there if he was in fact going to die, when he heard another new arrival. There had been a pretty decent flood of people in a short time, so there was probably a battle of some kind going on. When he looked up, it felt like everything was going to be normal again really soon. Even though it had obviously been a decent amount of time since Castor had died, he could still recognize the newest resident in Elysium.

Castor took a running start towards him, shouting, "Pollux!"


	2. Pollux

Wow, I really wasn't expecting on getting feedback on this as quickly as I did! Unfortunately, I can't respond to anything privately yet, my account is still too new. But I'll respond as quickly as I can! Anyway, I wrote Pollux's side of this shenanigan, so I hope you enjoy this one as well!

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><p>Guilt was a weird thing. It was awful, and never seemed to go away or get better. All time did was make Pollux feel more and more numb.<p>

The worst time had been during the Battle of the Labyrinth, as it had later been called. Pollux had been fighting nearby, and he'd just killed a couple monsters when he turned back around to see how Castor was doing. If he'd just defeated the monsters a little faster and then turned around faster, maybe things could have been different. Those few seconds could have saved Castor's life. But instead, Pollux was too late to save him from the blow that killed him.

After Castor fell, Pollux was in shock for a few seconds. A few thoughts passed through his head, such as 'maybe he's not dead, maybe he's just knocked out.' If he was just knocked out, Pollux would have to keep him safe until the battle was over. They'd get help once the immediate threat was gone, Castor would be fine. Pollux's shock wore off quickly, and he began fighting the demigod who had previously been fighting his brother. If he'd had more time to fight, that demigod wouldn't have stood a chance.

It was only after Grover had shrieked and caused the entirety of Kronos' army to retreat that everything started really sinking in. The campers that survived had to bring the dead out of the forest, and among those dead was Castor. He didn't want to believe that his twin brother was dead. He didn't want to have to actually use the funeral shroud that they had made a few years ago. They used to laugh about how stupid it was that they had to put grapes on them just because their dad was the god of wine. It didn't seem too long ago now.

There were a lot of kids at the bonfire where they were going to burn their brothers and sisters. A lot of them managed to say something about their sibling before breaking down, but when it became Pollux's turn to do it, he choked. He couldn't say anything about his brother, not one single happy memory that he had with him, without crying. Who was he kidding, he was going to cry anyway, but that just made it even more difficult to talk. All he was able to do was light Castor's pyre and back away, hoping that he wasn't mad at him for letting him die.

The year after that was pretty much pure torture. Pollux was always alone in the Dionysus cabin, which held YEARS of memories. Even the strawberry fields weren't the same without Castor. At least there was something that could make an attempt at distracting him from his absence. There was a lot of war preparation going on around camp. If they were going to have a chance of winning, they'd have to be _very_ well prepared. Training, creating weapons, more training; it was at the very least a routine that he could get into.

The Battle for New York only felt longer than it really was. It was probably shorter for Pollux, thanks to the fact that he'd broken his arm. He didn't want to just sit on Olympus while everyone else was still down on the ground fighting, and he even told Percy that he would fight with his left hand. Percy just told him not to fight, as a 'personal favor.' That was a load of bullshit if he'd ever heard any. But something told him that he should just agree. Somebody would probably stop him before he even got to the elevator, they'd all tell him that going down to fight with a broken arm would be suicide. He didn't particularly care about that, but the other campers would. Obviously the world just wanted to rob him of another chance to avenge Castor.

When the war was finally over, and Kronos was officially gone for good, everyone who was still alive was able to return to camp. They didn't have to worry about an army of monsters breaking into camp anymore. They just had to worry about singular monsters whenever they left camp. And with the news that anyone who died would go to Elysium came Pollux's resolve to eventually die a hero and find Castor again.

His chance came almost half a year after the Battle for Olympus. After the existence of Roman demigods became known, it seemed like everyone in camp was preparing for something awful to happen. The other, bigger problem was literally giants. And Gaea, but the more immediate was the Giant problem. With Gaea, they could only hope that the ship that Leo Valdez had created would somehow get them to Greece and keep her from waking up. The Romans, they would have to fight. It would be like the Battle of the Labyrinth all over again, except they would be fighting against only demigods, not monsters.

A big surprise came when it turned out that they would not in fact be fighting other demigods. They'd be fighting ghosts in dirt shells. Thanks, Gaea. All Pollux had to do about that was keep breaking them apart and hope that the ghost inside of it wasn't his brother and that he couldn't feel it if it was.

When he blacked out and reawoke near a black river, he was mostly surprised. One of the dirt ghosts must have gotten a lucky hit. But that didn't matter. Either way, he was dead, and hopefully he'd be seeing his little brother soon.

The journey across the river and to judgment weren't eventful in the slightest, but when he was actually _in_ judgment, things were way more stressful than being dead should be. A trio of old men debating on where you should go for the rest of eternity? Should be a walk in the park. Of course it wasn't, because they seemed to know literally everything that you had ever done ever. Was taking food off of your brother's plate enough to keep you from going to Elysium? No, but apparently failing to keep him from going to his own death might be. When the judges brought up that part of his life, Pollux began worrying that Castor might blame him for letting him die again. He also worried that maybe he wouldn't be able to find out either way, because he wouldn't be able to get into Elysium.

The worry in his stomach didn't begin to settle even after the judges agreed on where he should go. He'd go to Elysium and he'd see Castor again, for better or for worse.

The moment he entered Elysium, he a very familiar voice call his name. A split second later, he was hit by a body that had been running straight at him. Pollux didn't even have to guess who it was, considering that he didn't seem to intend to let go for a while. If Pollux was being honest with himself, he'd have no problems with that. If this meant that Castor wasn't mad and didn't blame him for letting him die, he'd let his hug last forever.


End file.
